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Microsoft plans Xbox capable of native 4K gaming

Microsoft's next Xbox console, dubbed 'Project Scorpio', will offer native 4K gaming - but won't be based on the AMD Ryzen microprocessor.

Instead, Microsoft will stick with the Jaguar architecture, uprated to provide more performance, and run an AMD Polaris-based GPU alongside it, rather than the current AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next (GCN).

The news comes via Digital Foundry ahead of a full reveal at the E3 trade show.

Microsoft had already confirmed that Project Scorpio will run at six teraflops, trumping the PS4 Pro's 4.2 teraflops. It also previously revealed that it will replace its 8GB of DDR3 RAM and 32MB of ESRAM with 12GB of GDDR5 memory.

Digital Foundry has now revealed everything you need to know about the graphical power of Microsoft's next console.

First, it debunks speculation that Scorpio would feature an AMD Ryzen CPU. Instead, the new console will feature eight CPU cores clocked at 2.3GHz, adding that "all signs point to upclocked Jaguar cores found inside the Xbox One". However, the new cores are said to be 31 per cent faster than those found inside Microsoft's original Xbox console.

The in-depth report also reveals that Microsoft's custom GPU engine on Project Scorpio runs at 1172MHz, a big increase over both the Xbox One's 853MHz and the PS4 Pro's 911MHz GPUs.

Project Scorpio also features vapour-chamber cooling, a technology that's used on high-end PC gaming cards like Nvidia's GTX 1080.

Digital Foundry claims to have played around with one: "Performance is remarkable. We saw a Forza Motorsport demo running on the machine at native 4K and Xbox One equivalent settings, and it hit 60 frames per second with a substantial performance overhead - suggesting Scorpio will hit its native 4K target across a range of content, with power to spare to spend on other visual improvements," it writes.

"And while 4K is the target, Microsoft is paying attention to 1080p users, promising that all modes will be available to them."

Microsoft's Project Scorpio console will also come with an internal power supply, a 4K Blu-ray drive and a 1TB, 2.5in hard drive. It will also support Dolby Atmos and a proprietary format called HRTF, developed by the Microsoft Hololens team.

The final design of Project Scorpio will be revealed at E3 this June. There's no word on how much it'll cost yet, but Digital Foundry is expecting a $499 price tag, which these days pretty much equates to around £499 in the UK.

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